King Cuerno and others are taking action against Lucha Underground.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that King Cuerno (aka El Hijo del Fantasma, real name Jorge Luis Alcantar Bolly) and his lawyers filed documents in Los Angeles against El Rey Network and Lucha Underground’s production company Baba-G Productions asking for arbitration “in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s National Rules for the Resolutions of Employment Disputes.”
Pro Wrestling Sheet obtained a copy of the documents, which states:
Plaintiff brings this action seeking to invalidate illegal provisions of a contract between himself and Defendants. Defendants is enforcing contracts with Plaintiff which are illusory, in that they require Plaintiffs to stop engaging in their lawful trade, while Defendants have no obligation to provide work to Plaintiffs, and only have an obligation to pay Plaintiffs if they are provided work on their show. This contract also violations California Business and Professions code 16600 and California public policy as they restrain Plaintiffs from working in their lawful profession.
Cuerno's lawyer Andre Verdun explains in the documents that Lucha Underground has the authority to “illegally restrict” wrestlers from engaging in their profession in violation of California law.
ROH, IMPACT, WWE, and AEW are cited as promotions offering wrestlers "competitive contracts" that keep wrestlers "well paid." Meanwhile, Cuerno's lawyer states, "Lucha Underground broadcasts between 22 and 40 television episodes per year, with no live events like the other described wrestling promotions. If a wrestler appears on a show, it is usually just a couple. The payment per episode is usually less than $1,000" and that Lucha Underground "require that wrestlers not perform services for other wrestling companies anywhere in the world without Defendants permission, but does not require Defendants to use Plaintiffs in their wrestling-theme television show."
Cuerno claims that he's lost out on thousands of dollars and has had talks with another company fall through due to his contract with Lucha Underground. Verdun clarified that this dispute is not Cuerno seeking his release from the company, but was filed to seek compensation for money he lost from not being able to sign elsewhere.
However, Verdun went on to say that a class action lawsuit has also been filed against Lucha Underground productions where the goal is for the competitors to gain their release from the promotion.
Andre Verdun told Lucha Central, "there is actually another lawsuit my office filed as a class action to invalidate certain portions of their contracts that we believe are illegal. There are several wrestlers that have signed onto that lawsuit, others that have reached out requesting to join, so that lawsuit actually seeks to do what it I saw reported that Fantasma’s lawsuit is attempting to accomplish."
Ivelisse Velez, Joey Ryan and Thunder Rosa (aka Kobra Moon), along with Cuerno, are reportedly part of the class action lawsuit.
Ivelisse publicly complained about Lucha Underground "legally holding her hostage" on social media back in January. She told Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp earlier this week that she has still not been released from her contract. Both she and Jake Hager (Jack Swagger) told Fightful that they haven't heard a peep about the next season of Lucha Underground.
